Remembering 26/11

"While Taj Mahal is a testimony to love,

Taj Hotel is now a testimony to terror."

6 years have passed, the memories are still vivid and livid. Back then, I saw the events unfold from the very scratch. It all seemed so erratic, so chaotic, yet so incredible. Come, let's revisit some minutes of the 4 fateful days. The purpose is not to petrify or glorify, but to remind us that the past -- however gone -- is very real.

26/11 2000 hours

The night of 26/11 was pretty calm. Fishermen at Colaba were watching the India-England cricket match. A lone fisherman was puffing smoke when he saw a jetty ashore. A group of teenagers got down. That lone fisherman is to atone forever, for not informing the local police about the teenagers, who would eventually take Mumbai by storm.

26/11 2130 hours

Platform 4 of Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus. 2 teenagers made their way to the bathroom along with their rag-sacks. *Bam* *Thud-thud* In a matter of minutes, they walked out of the terminus towards a new target -- Cama Hospital.

26/11 2135 hours

"She was off by the time I looked at my daughter", lamented a woman in the Platform-4 of CST. Meanwhile, TV media channels were brazenly announcing "It has all the makings of a terror attack"

26/11 2200 hours

#2 Outside Leopold Café. 2 teenagers unpack their rug-sack. No one would even give a second glance to them. "Shabby", a random tourist smirked. One of them simply tossed out a bomb-shell inside the café and opened fire.

26/11 2201 hours

Like GTA gone haywire, a couple took refuge behind a concrete column and saved themselves from those bullets. They ran from Leopold Café to Taj Hotel, as were the 2 gunmen.

26/11 2245 hours

*Knock-knock* *Thud* The door of the luxury suite of Mr. Ramamurthy was gunned down. That suite of Taj Hotel was the terrorist's make-shift command center now. "The sea-view is amazing from here", one of them remarked as the other was preparing to burn the entire floor.

27/11 0130 hours

The police cordoned a white skoda car. "Come out now!", the police announced. But the skoda car driver had other plans. The driver was shot dead. The driver's colleague sprayed constable Tukaram Omble with bullets, but Omble didn't lose his grip on Ajmal Kasab.

27/11 0215 hours

"Get a couple'a floors burning", the handler said.

"Praise the God! You'll see it in a few seconds. Watch this particular news channel. They are showing us live!", the terrorists anounced to the handler on the satellite phone.

27/11 0230 hours

"What? We need NSG now! We can't wait till morning!! What do we do here now? Praise the almighty?!", an official shouted on the phone. The NSG's only base was in Delhi.

27/11 0500 hours

"We're 10 of us. Fedayeens. Even if you kill us, we'll get liberation while you rot in hell!", Kasab laughed as he gave the redundant information to the police.

27/11 1500 hours

"Ok. We're on Ground zero. We need 3 more hours to prepare a strategy", NSG announced. The operation was codenamed "Black Tornado"

28/11 1300 hours

"You're safe enough. We've got you", the fireman tried to calm a victim hostage.

"How do you know? Safe? You sure?", he babbled inconsistently.

28/11 1400 hours

"I'm afraid, brother"

"Don't be. Remember? Open indiscriminate fire, kill as many, secure a vantage point, and stay as long as you can and kill as many as you can!"

28/11 1500 hours

"Look how eloquently the Indian media is showing sagas of your victorious expedition. Go on. In the name of the almighty, show me some more action! Use those big ones I sent you!", the tapped message sent shivers down the Indian authorities' hands. "Bloody stop the live feeds!", somebody shouted.

29/11 1800 hours

"I could hear the noise getting louder and louder, the walls were getting hotter and hotter", a survivor recounted.

29/11 1500 hours

"Ma'am! What do you have to say about this? How many bodies you saw? How did you come out alive?", the reporters were mobbing a foreigner who somehow managed to get out on time from Oberoi Hotel.

After 4 days of carnage, 166 were dead and 308+ were wounded. Kasab confessed that Pakistan's ISI supported the plan. A collaboration of LeT and SIMI yielded incredible results to them. My soul and fingers are numb. One question remains, "All this. All of this. WHY?"

*Some remarks are semi-fictionalized*